Apparently, it was only a coincidence that U2 was blaring inside Boston’s dressing room as Bruins players extolled the virtues of Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson on Thursday morning.

While Alfredsson’s favourite band played in the background, Boston media was hot on the two-week-old speculation that the Senators captain could be traded here before the trade deadline.

Rugged winger Milan Lucic says he would love to have Alfredsson on his team. Former Senator Chris Kelly went on about his leadership abilities.

Even Bruins coach Claude Julien politely answered the queries about Alfredsson, saying he “deserves all the accolades” he receives.

An hour later, however, Alfredsson insisted that being traded out of Ottawa was the furthest thing from his mind, even though he understood why it is such a huge topic here.

“For sure, there have been the rumours about Boston going on for more than a week,” he said. “I’m fine with it, too, but my focus isn’t anywhere near that right now. I haven’t talked to Bryan (Murray, Senators general manager) about it at all.”